Silence Is Not Golden
by LillianLockhart
Summary: The trio enters their seventh year and all seems well. Hermione herself has... blossomed, to say the least. People tend to notice when a goodygood knowitall mudblood suddenly turns into an intoxicating priceless jewel with all the charm of a walking love


_**Chapter One: The Shining Rose**_

They say time flies when one's having fun. Well, the first half of this summer must have been very enjoyable, for it was over in a flash. First and foremost, there'd been no sign of Voldemort whatsoever so the Order was calm although still cautious. Harry Potter hadn't been forced to spend the summer with the Dursleys. Instead, he managed to convince the Order to let him stay at the house of Black with his friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. Sure, it did depress him every now and then when he came across something that reminded him strongly of Sirius. But somehow he had realized it wasn't doing anyone any good by moping and mourning all the time. Luna had become closer of a friend to him last year and she'd explained that maybe Sirius wasn't _gone_ after all. I mean, Harry hadn't actually seen Sirius dead, had he? There was always a chance. Even if there wasn't, Sirius was still around, watching over as a ghost or an angel or whatever really happened. I mean, souls just didn't disappear after death, did they?

Anyway, to get off the subject of death; Hermione and Ron's relationship hadn't changed in the slightest since 5th year. Sometimes Hermione would catch Ron looking at her and he'd look away, blushing as red as his fiery hair. Harry could see it but for some reason, Ron did nothing more to express his feelings.

The trio was sitting in the living room on the last night of Hermione's stay at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. She had promised her parents she would only stay half the summer. The aforementioned girl herself was sitting by the fire, trying hard not to laugh at Fred and George, who were currently retelling their latest prank.

Hermione tried to keep her mouth in a grim line, "You two couldn't keep out of trouble if you were paid."

Fred and George both feigned identical looks of hurt. "Why, that stings, Hermione."

George nodded. "Yeah, we could certainly keep out of trouble. Couldn't we, Fred?"

"Certainly, George, for a decent amount of money-"

"And a reasonable amount of time."

"Alright then," She said, unable to hide her grin now. "If you can go all school year without getting into trouble, I'll give you 20 galleons."

"Me too," Harry put in. Ron stayed silent.

"Very well, then." Fred said standing up. "But you know... the school year hasn't started yet."

"You're absolutely right, Fred."

"That I am, George. So this means we'd better -"

"Cause as much trouble as possible -"

"Until then."

The twins disappeared around the corner and up the stairs.

Ron sighed. "This is gonna be a long summer."

Hermione patted his leg absent-mindedly from her spot on the floor as he was sitting in a lounge chair beside her.

Ron's face reddened but Hermione didn't notice as she stopped patting his leg and buried her nose in a book she had already read twice that summer.

"Oi, Ron, you want to play me at chess?"

Ron seemed to have gained his composure, "I think the term is 'beat you' at chess, seeing as that's what I do."

Harry grinned. "Not this time."

And so they played a barbaric game of chess in which many pieces got pulverized to dust on the board in between them. Ron won in the end, of course.

After a while, the fire started to dim and the trio eventually separated to their bedrooms, yawning sleepily. All three of them fell asleep with smiles on their faces, thinking that this summer has been very . . . good. So far.

The next morning at nine, Hermione was already up and packed. She thought about leaving without saying goodbye to Harry and Ron and thought it would be the best thing to do. Hermione never did like saying goodbye. She'd rather leave having remembered the contentment they had all felt without thinking of goodbye.

"Ready?" Moody barked from across hall. Hermione snapped out of her daydream and picked up her bags, walking down the hall to meet the crazy-eyed former-professor. Well, not really, since the professor she'd seen that year hadn't really been him but - whatever.

"Let's go." She said firmly.

Hermione greeted her parents as she always did when she'd been away for a while. They both hugged her and smiled, and insisted upon knowing how her time away was.

After dinner that night, Hermione decided to go for a walk, to re-remember her neighbourhood. She walked along the streets aimlessly and was surprised to find her feet had taken her to the park. She sat down on the swing and wrapped one arm around the chain. She stared at the ground, watching her shadow move back and forth, copying her motion on the park swing.

Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She looked up to see what looked like something gold glinting not too far off on the ground. Curiosity peaked and before she realized it she was kneeling over what turned out to be a rose.

"How very curious," she mumbled, picking it up to find it hadn't been attached to the ground. What was strange, though, was the fact that rose was glowing a vibrant gold colour. The light emitting from the flower illuminated her face lined with curiosity.

A flying sort of feeling came over her and she felt a sudden force jerk at her just behind her navel. She would have screamed had she not already been tugged through time and space and landed roughly on her bottom in what looked to be a dark forest. She held in her gasp at what just happened. She looked down at the little rose in her hand. A portkey?

But a portkey to... where? And what was it doing in the park? A sudden chill of fear shook her spine as she stood up and heard faint voices not too far away. The voices were getting closer to where Hermione was - which was a rather large clearing where the grass seemed to be singed or charred. Hermione didn't know what to do for a split second. She spied a tree nearby with a few low branches so she clambered up into the safety of the thick foliage and thought she would wait for whoever it was to pass.

But they didn't. Hermione could hear them in the clearing now, but they had stopped moving. There must have been over a dozen people there. She tilted her head slightly so she could peer through the leaves of the tree. What she saw almost made her cry out. A group of figures in hooded robes stood in a circle; at the centre of the circle stood a man with his hood down. His snake-like features leapt out at her fiercely and his voice sent chills of fright through her mind and body. Hermione knew who this man was and she knew who the rest of them had to be. But still Hermione didn't move or utter a sound though her face was pale and her eyes were round as saucers.

"We've been dormant long enough." The Dark Lord was saying. "No one suspects a thing and our plans have been running smoothly." He turned to one of the masked followers. "Lucius," he said, to which the cloaked person shrunk back only slightly. "You know your part. I trust I won't have to repeat it to you."

"No, My Lord," The cloaked figure drawled.

"Good. But I sense there is something you wish to say."

"... Yes, My Lord."

"Tell me."

"The girl you want me to take out, the Granger girl..."

"You are wondering why I should waste my time."

Silence.

"Fool. The girl is close friends with Harry Potter; you know this. I do not know how close, but that matters little. You said yourself that your son suspects it's more than mere friendship. And you dare to ask such a stupid question." He tutted. "_Crucio!_"

Lucius fell to his knees, yelling out in pain.

You-know-who walked past him, a sickening smirk spreading across his visage.

Hermione was by now trying desperately to stay hidden and remain quiet although her breathing had rapidly increased at hearing her name, her mind quickly putting the puzzle pieces together. Somehow, she managed to go unseen as the gathering started to talk about other plans. Hermione listened intently, planning to inform everything to the Order as soon as she could.

However, the snake-like man's head tilted to the side mid-sentence and he sneered. "It seems we have a visitor."

Hermione stopped breathing and she pressed herself against the trunk of the tree, careful not to even blink in the silence.

There was a whispered word and a flash of light. Hermione soon found herself on the ground with ropes around her arms and legs. She struggled to get free for a moment but gave it up as a lost cause. A pair of booted feet appeared in front of her, crunching the charred grass beneath them.

Hermione trailed her eyes up to the snake-like face but didn't flinch or shrink away even though fear enveloped her.

"My, my, such a sneaky little witch we have here."

Hermione said nothing. He continued, "You are Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's friend."

Hermione immediately shook her head, furrowing her brow in confusion. "I don't know Harry Potter."

The corner of the snake-man's mouth tipped upwards. "Not very clever under mortal fear, are you, little Ms. Granger?"

Hermione resorted to glaring at him, giving up the act.

"That's better. Now," he knelt down so he was eye level with her. "Tell me where he is and I'll let you go unharmed."

She scoffed. "You can torture me all you want but you won't get to Harry."

"Well, you're right about one thing… _Crucio!"_ he said for the second time that night, pointing his wand at Hermione.

Hermione closed her eyes tightly and screamed, her body convulsing against the unbearable pain that seared through her like hundreds of white-hot knives. She managed to glare back up at him, her vision blurred by the tears of pain streaming down her face.

"Tell me!"

"I'll never speak."

Another searing pain ripped through her, more intense this time.

"Very well . . . I suppose you're no use to me. Avada-"

"My Lord, we've been found out... Albus Dumbledore is on his way right now."

The Dark Lord let out a stream of curses before turning back to the girl on the ground. "This is not the last I'll see of you!" He promised. "I'll leave you with a parting gift, however. You said you will never speak, so be it!" He pointed his wand at her again and said a spell she didn't recognize. And just like that he was gone.

Hermione's throat felt like it was closing up and opening again painfully. She put a hand to her throat as she heard footfalls crunching on the burnt grass. Black dots danced in front of her eyes before she collapsed to the ground, clutching at her throat, unable to call out.


End file.
